ONLINE: 22nd New Works Festival

DALLAS- Kitchen Dog Theater (KDT), a founding core member of the National New Play Network (NNPN), is thrilled to announce the official lineup for the twenty-second anniversary of its annual New Works Festival (NWF). This year’s NWF will be completely digital due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To celebrate this landmark event, KDT is offering a series of six virtual readings as well as the 19th year of PUP (Playwrights Under Progress) Fest. Showcasing some of the newest and most exciting voices and visions in contemporary theater, the winning plays are selected from almost 500 annual submissions from around the globe and will feature a strong cadre of DFW's most accomplished actors and directors.

This year's NWF 2020 - Virtual Reading Series includes:

THREE YEAR SUMMER by Amy Berryman

Friday, June 12 at 7pm -

Set in 2002, while awaiting the release of the fourth Harry Potter book, thirteen-year-old Tommie takes refuge in the deep, dark world of online fan fiction as her parents' marriage falls apart around her. A magical coming-of-age story about fandom, betrayal, and family.

Director: Carson McCain

PALETAS DE COCO by Franky Gonzalez – *WINNER - 2020 LOCAL SLOT*

Sunday, June 14 at 2pm - *Playwright to perform in reading*

A playwright searching for his father and for someone to read aloud a letter he's written recruits a Performer who, along with the audience, are taken with the playwright on a journey through four Christmas Eves, coconut popsicles, depression, Santería ritual, Times Square, male breastfeeding, reunions with long-lost siblings, Applebee's Nacho Plates, child birth, suicide attempts, fatherhood, and robbing Chinese buffets.

Director: Dominic D’Andrea

DREAM HOU$E by Eliana Pipes

Friday, June 19 at 7pmTwo Latinx sisters seize an opportunity to capitalize on their “changing neighborhood” by appearing on an HGTV-style reality show, unprepared for the show’s surreal left-turn through ancestry, capitalism and identity. What’s the cultural cost of progress in America — and is cashing in always selling out?

Director: Morgana Wilborn

THRIVE, OR WHAT YOU WILL by LM Feldman

Sunday, June 21 at 2pm Jeanne Baret, a gifted 18th-century herb woman, falls for a university-trained botanist. Concealed as a man, she joins him on a sea voyage that will change science forever. An epically true tale of historical fiction about the first woman to travel the globe. THRIVE, OR WHAT YOU WILL is one of American Shakespeare Center's Shakespeare's New Contemporaries with a production slated for 2021.

Director: Emily Ernst

THE AMPHIBIANS by Dan Caffrey *WINNER - 2020 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MFA SLOT*

Friday, June 26 at 7pm

Set thirteen years in the future, THE AMPHIBIANS takes place in west central Florida shortly after we've passed the point of no return in the fight against climate change. When two high schoolers unearth a wondrous discovery in the woods, they learn hard lessons about the evolution of friendship and what it means to take care of something at the end of the world.

Director: Libby Hawkins

LAST SHIP TO PROXIMA CENTAURI by Greg Lam

Sunday, June 28 at 2pm

The Earth has become uninhabitable. The last escape ship from Earth (Seattle, to be exact) arrives to their new home centuries after all the others. They are not prepared for what they find there: A planet full of unimpressed people of color who are not happy to see them.

Director: Christie Vela

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PUP FEST 2020, June 6th at 1pm - FREE!

This year's Festival also features the nineteenth year of Playwrights Under Progress (PUP) Fest, co-produced with D-PAC (Dallas - Playwriting Arts Collective), an alliance between KDT, Dallas ISD and local youth organization Junior Players created to provide innovative programs and opportunities for high school playwrights. Written and performed by some of the Metroplex's finest high school talent, this year's PUP Fest will feature an afternoon of six world premiere virtual readings mentored and developed through playwriting workshops with local celebrated playwrights Erin Ryan Burdette and Haley Nelson. This year’s fest will also include 3 master acting online workshops for all PUP student participants, led by PUP Fest director/alum Montgomery Sutton.

DALLAS, TX – The Danielle Georgiou Dance Group (DGDG) announces that THE SAVAGE SECONDS, a new, experimental opera, will be premiering online June 4-10, 2020. The production will be presented by Undermain Theatre.

In response to the global pandemic and keeping true to their innovative and creative nature, the artists of DGDG will be designing this production specifically as a work of “theatre on film.”

“We have used multi-media and alternative, experimental methods in almost all of our productions over the last nine years, so we wanted to meet this challenge head-on and see how we could translate the magic of live theatre to film,” says DGDG Artistic Director Danielle Georgiou. “The show is being adapted for our current situation, and while many things have changed, and are constantly being changed as we learn to live in this new normal, the desire to perform and connect in unique ways has grown and is motivating us to move forward. We know that elements of intimacy and interactivity is missing for the audience members of digital performances, so we are developing new ways of engaging the audience’s imagination and personal space.”

The filmed performance, driven primarily with music and movement, will serve as the story-telling element, however, this leaves out the breath and nuance of being in the presence of the performers. In order to grow connection between the audience and the characters, DGDG will be developing a multi-media map using a website of puzzles and secrets. The site will feature biographic material about the characters, personal writings, intimate details, and the opportunity to interact with the actual finished performance. Audience members will be able to wander through the layers of the website, learning about the show, to deepen their curiosity and bond with the story. There are many surprises in store. You just might end up in the show. The website can be accessed at: https://www.thesavageseconds.com

Conceived by Danielle Georgiou and Justin Locklear, THE SAVAGE SECONDS centers on the story of a young girl—sent home from boarding school during a great plague—whose coming of age is hijacked by her powerful but absent parents, malicious siblings, and the surreal confusion of sexuality. Exploring the genre of tragédie en musique and the concepts inherent in the Greek tragedies of Oedipus and Medea, THE SAVAGE SECONDS looks at the effects of obsession and celebrity in a world catapulted into disarray by disease and political turmoil.

Patrons will receive a link and password on June 4 to view THE SAVAGE SECONDS. The link will be available until June 11 at 11:59pm. If you purchase after June 4, you will get your link within 24-hours of your purchase.

Elle Woods appears to have it all. Her life is turned upside down when her boyfriend Warner dumps her so he can attend Harvard Law. Determined to get him back, Elle ingeniously charms her way into the prestigious law school. While there, she struggles with peers, professors and her ex. With the support of some new friends, though, Elle quickly realizes her potential and sets out to prove herself to the world.

To read about the Granbury Theatre Company COVID-19 protocols, go here.

ONLINE: The Immigrant

As the national theatre community endures limitations on gatherings, Theatre Three continues its practice of offering intimate theatrical experiences in innovative ways. From June 15 – 28, Theatre Three will stream Mark Harelik’s inspiring play, TheImmigrant. Directed by Theatre Three Artistic Director Jeffrey Schmidt, the play will be performed and designed to work within the necessary current restrictions. Set in Hamilton, Texas in the early half of the 20th century, this technologically-forward telling of the play won’t put audiences in the room where it happened, but it will make history. Streaming access codes are only $15 and are available for purchase at www.Theatre3Dallas.com.

“Innovative storytelling emerges out of restrictions,” explains Schmidt. “You explore, experiment and innovate. You keep what works and discard what doesn't. The product is the process. None of that happens unless you commit and jump in feet first. That's what we're doing. Mistakes will be made, but a story will be told.”

Associate Artistic Director Christie Vela emphasizes, “It's not just important—it's imperative at this moment in history to tell this story. Not in the way that gets you grants or imaginary theatre points, but in a flesh and bone, down and dirty way.”

In lieu of tickets, patrons will purchase access codes for streaming. Streaming is limited to 200 for each of the ten viewing opportunities (full schedule follows at bottom of press release). Consider each viewing opportunity as a performance that begins at the published time. Videos must be accessed within 30 minutes of the start times for each show. In addition to the streamed performance, viewers will be provided with a digital version of a traditional performance program. Plus, Theatre Three will host talkbacks on Facebook following the performances on June 15, June 21 and June 28 (www.facebook.com/theatre3dallas.)

The most widely produced play in the country in 1991, this play gently grapples with the thorny questions that plague the USA—who deserves to belong here and what do we owe each other? Set in Hamilton, Texas, The Immigrant tells the story of Russian-Jewish immigrant Haskell Harelik as he settles into America at the turn of the 20th century. Unable to speak English, the outsider pulls his banana cart through the staunch Christian community seeking shelter. Over a span of 30 years, this tiny town becomes the home for his young family as religion meets religion, culture meets culture, fear meets fear, and love meets love. Based on the life of the playwright’s grandfather, this play resonates deeply today, as immigration policies and anti-Sematic rhetoric embroil the globe in conflict.

DRIVE-IN THEATER: Everything Will Be Fine

Prism Movement Theater, in collaboration with the Bath House Cultural Center, is proud to announce that they will be producing an innovative drive in dance-theater experience entitled Everything Will Be Fine in the following location and times:

Bath House Cultural Center Parking lot: June 19th-20th at 8pm

June 26th-27th at 8pm

Everything Will Be Fine is about a woman learning how to deal with a new world and her well meaning (if slightly clueless) friends after experiencing an unthinkable loss. As she moves with her friends amongst the flashing car lights, bringing joy to a tragic situation, we learn that to accept our loss and embrace our present circumstances, we'll have to take it one dance at a time.

SAFETY GUIDELINES: Packed into forty-five minutes, Everything Will Be Fine is a spirited drive in theater experience that is designed to be experienced safely in our current pandemic. Our ushers, staff and performers will be wearing masks and obeying social distancing guidelines to ensure safety during rehearsals and performance. We are also asking our guests to follow these simple guidelines help ensure their safety and enjoyment during the experience:

Once guests arrive they will be asked to display their ticket on their dashboard. If they not have a ticket, guests will be asked to swipe their own card at our usher's card reader. This is the only instance of close proximity to our staff that will be required during the experience.

Once admitted, guests will be led to their assigned parking spots, all spaced away from other guests to maintain social distancing. Once parked, guests are encouraged to stay in their car as they tune in to a specific radio station that will be given at the gate.

After that, guests can sit back and relax to our show's electronic/rock music underscoring a beautiful live performance, told entirely through dance.

Once the show is finished ushers will be available to help guide guests out of the parking lot safely.

Tickets can be found at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/prism-movement-theater-29671354693

ART+ART: an imPULSE dance project

The cycle of creation. Where does it start? Where does it end? imPULSE dance project's Summer Series ART+ART brings together a team of 6 choreographers creating work in inspiration of current pieces of art; Art Influencing Art. This series will include dance works inspired by sculpture, poems, paintings, graphic art, etc., created by artists you may know and some you may not! The aim of this project is to continue the epidemic and creation of art. Let the contagiousness of creating art continue!

Each person sees the world in a different way. While each perspective can have validity, the truth is easily obscured and clouded by our own biases. Haven’t we all relied on stereotypes or approached a situation with preconceived notions? What are the motivations to do this? Perhaps it is more convenient to conform to societal norms rather than challenge entrenched beliefs. Does discriminating against one group allow another to feel superior or more bonded? While the justification is real for many, this can sadly lead to missed opportunities to build meaningful relationships or to stand up for what is right. With this production, Indique Dance Company, in collaboration with Cry Havoc Theater, will explore the depth of bias in each of us, the presence of bias within our relationships, and the reach of bias in society.

Indique has always had a mission to connect to people through our art by drawing on common universal, human experiences. Indian classical dance is timeless, and through this medium, our hope is to inspire awareness and unite the community through this exploration. Join us on this journey as we attempt to unveil the truth or “Satyam.”

A Star-Spangled Spectacular

Giant flag? Check! Streamer cannons? Check! Inspiring music to celebrate the spirit of our great nation? Check, check, and check! It’s everything you love about a July 4 band concert, without the heat, the bugs, and the sunburn. Bring your whole family and join the fun!

Broadway’s COME FROM AWAY is a Best Musical winner all across North America! This New York Times Critics’ Pick takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships.

Look Back in Anger

Focusing on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet impassive upper-middle-class wife Alison. This realist play spawned the term “angry young man” and birthed a new movement in theatre to hold the mirror up to reality rather than giving the audience an escape from their own reality. It pits each class against the other and brings home the old saying “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.

For the final mainstage production of its 2019-2020 season, Uptown Players presents the regional premiere of the recent Broadway musical, Head Over Heels, the bold new musical comedy from the visionaries that rocked Broadway with Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Avenue Q. This laugh-out-loud love story is set to the music of the iconic 1980s all-female rock band The Go-Go’s, including the hit songs, “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Mad About You.” A hilarious, exuberant celebration of love, Head Over Heels follows the escapades of a royal family on an outrageous journey to save their beloved kingdom from extinction—only to discover the key to their realm’s survival lies within each of their own hearts.

The "Greatest Movie Musical of All Time" is faithfully and lovingly adapted for the stage. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN has all the makings of a Tinseltown tabloid headline - the starlet, the leading man, and a romance that could change lives and make or break careers! In silent movies, Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are a hot item. But, behind the scenes, things aren't always as they appear on the big screen. Meanwhile, Lina's squeaky voice might be the end of her career in "talking pictures" without the help of a talented young actress to do the talking and singing for her!

I Am My Own Wife

Based on a true story, and inspired by interviews conducted by the playwright, Doug Wright, over several years, I Am My Own Wife tells the fascinating story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, an elegant and eccentric 65-year old German transgender woman who, against all odds, managed to survive both the Nazi onslaught and the repressive East German Communist regime. Using more than 30 characters, Wright pieces together Charlotte’s captivating and controversial life. Winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play, I Am My Own Wife is a profound story of survival.

2020-07-16T19:30:00~~~2020-07-17T20:00:00~~~2020-07-18T20:00:00

The Neglected Heart of Soul: An Ode to Donny Hathaway~~~B. Moore Dance~~~/images/large/l_200722135922.jpg

Styled in the format of a symphony with four movements, the work explores dance and music, fusing multi-media with spoken word. The collaborative work showcases Donny Hathaway’s brilliant contributions to the musical cannon, re-imagining his life through the lens of an (DJ) master of ceremonies, taking place in a 21st century Radio Station.

Audiences will be taken on a journey of dance accompanied by live, riveting Gospel sonata of songs, Blues, Jazz and R & B that depict and reflect identity, growing up, evolving and ceremonial practices, rooted in black oral traditions.

AART pays tribute to Toni Morrison on the 50th anniversary of the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author’s acclaimed debut novel, The Bluest Eye. The play takes us on a journey with Pecola, a young African American girl in 1940’s Ohio, who believes everything in her world would be made wonderful if only she had blue eyes. Enthralling, beautifully written and incredibly emotional, The Bluest Eye asks powerful questions concerning racism, beauty and identity with stunning grace and subtlety.

Disaster! is a new musical straight from Broadway featuring some of the most unforgettable songs of the 70’s. “Knock on Wood,” “Hooked on a Feeling,” “Sky High,” “I Am Woman” and “Hot Stuff” are just a few of the scintillating hits in this hilarious musical comedy with a book by three-time Emmy Award nominee and SiriusXM Broadway host, Seth Rudetsky, and Jack Plotnick. Go wild for this hilarious homage to the era of bell bottoms, platform shoes, and the hustle. With larger-than-life characters, snappy dialogue, and some of the most recognizable songs of the 70’s, Disaster! will have you dancing in your seat and rolling in the aisles.

Based on one of Hans Christian Andersen's most beloved stories and the classic animated film, Disney's The Little Mermaid is a hauntingly beautiful love story for the ages. With music by eight-time Academy Award winner, Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater and a compelling book by Doug Wright, this fishy fable will capture your heart with its irresistible songs, including "Under the Sea," "Kiss the Girl" and "Part of Your World."Ariel, King Triton's youngest daughter, wishes to pursue the human Prince Eric in the world above, bargaining with the evil sea witch, Ursula, to trade her tail for legs. But the bargain is not what it seems, and Ariel needs the help of her colorful friends, Flounder the fish, Scuttle the seagull and Sebastian the crab to restore order under the sea.

Matilda is a little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence and psychokinetic powers. She’s unloved by her cruel parents but impresses her schoolteacher, the highly loveable Miss Honey. Matilda’s school life isn’t completely smooth sailing, however – the school’s mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, hates children and just loves thinking up new punishments for those who don’t abide by her rules. But Matilda has courage and cleverness in equal amounts and could be the school pupils’ saving grace! Inspired by the twisted genius of Roald Dahl and winner of 4 Tony® Awards, Matilda the Musical revels in the anarchy of childhood and the power of imagination.

Eliza Doolittle is a flower seller with an unmistakable Cockney accent which keeps her in the lower rungs of Edwardian society. When Professor Henry Higgins tries to teach her how to speak like a proper lady, an unlikely friendship begins to flourish. Features songs “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?,” “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “The Rain in Spain,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”

At the centre of his own universe sits matinee idol Garry Essendine: suave, hedonistic and too old, says his wife, to be having numerous affairs. His line in harmless, infatuated debutantes is largely tolerated but playing closer to home is not. Just before he escapes on tour to Africa the full extent of his misdemeanors is discovered. And all hell breaks loose. Noel Coward's Present Laughter premiered in the early years of the Second World War just as such privileged lives were threatened with fundamental social change.

Blanche Dubois suddenly arrives in the French Quarter of New Orleans to visit her sister, Stella, but she appears to be running from something. The power struggle that unfolds between Blanche and her brother-in-law, Stanley, threatens to reveal dark secrets in her past and shatter the illusions she’s created around her life. Directed by STT Artistic Associate Blake Hackler, and widely considered to be among the top tier of great American plays, A Streetcar Named Desire maintains its poignancy seventy years after its groundbreaking premiere.

When the low-born Monty Navarro finds out that he’s eighth in line for an earldom in the lofty D’Ysquith family, he figures his chances of outliving his predecessors are slight and sets off down a far more ghoulish path. Can he knock off his unsuspecting relatives without being caught and become the ninth Earl of Highhurst? And what of love? Because murder isn’t the only thing on Monty’s mind….Winner of Four Tony Awards!

Welcome to Margaritaville, where people come to get away from it all—and stay to find something they never expected. With a book by Emmy Award® winner Greg Garcia (“My Name is Earl,” “Raising Hope”) and Emmy Award® nominee Mike O’Malley (“Survivors Remorse,” “Shameless”) ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE is the musical comedy featuring both original songs and your most-loved Jimmy Buffett classics, including “Fins,” “Volcano,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and many more. USA Today calls it “A little slice of paradise!” and Entertainment Weekly raves, “It will knock your flip-flops off!” So don’t let the party start without you.

Da Kink in My Hair

“If you want to know a black woman, you touch her hair,” says Novelette, as she delves into the tresses and stresses of her clients to reveal their hidden stories. In the salon of their West Indian stylist, hurried women congregate to have their hair done for dates, jobs and upkeep. They leave with not just a new hairdo, but a lifted soul and a lightened heart. This remarkable musical tells their incredible, uncensored, unforgettable tales through dance, song and stories that will move, inspire, and delight!

This tender story of family, friendship and acceptance teaches us that it really is a wonderful thing to “love who you love.” Alfie Byrne is a bus driver in 1964 Dublin whose heart holds secrets that he can’t share with anyone but his imagined confidante, Oscar Wilde. When he attempts to put on an amateur production of Wilde’s Salome in the local church hall, he confronts the forces of bigotry and shame over a love “that dare not speak its name.” But the redemptive power of theatre changes his life and brings his friends back to his side. Performed by the Apprentice Program.

Attack of the Killer Bs

While visiting their mother’s grave, Glen and Barbara are attacked by the undead who have risen to feast upon the living. Glen is killed, but that doesn’t stop him from coming back as a zombie to rescue his sister! A side-splitting tribute to all the best B horror movies, including everything from Night of the Living Dead and Friday the 13th to Nightmare on Elm Street. Will they survive?

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